The next two days felt much longer than they actually were for poor Akane, for she had completely absolved herself from any amount of sleep, even more so now since she received that note. We'll be back- Those words had repeated themselves time and time again inside her head. Her efforts in trying to exhaust herself with the workouts, the shopping, and reading all her books were all wasted. The nightmares were on a reel, replaying each and every night, taunting her. It had been a long time since she felt this kind of fear, the fear of someone out to get her, and same as before, she didn't really know how to handle it alone. As a child, her mother was the comfort from their shared struggles, and when she died, it was all up to Akane to find her own happiness. That was easier said than done, especially for a child at age eight. With nowhere else to go, she ended up wandering the streets, stealing food from convenience stores and getting into all sorts of trouble.
One night, as she was lurking around the sketchy alleys outside of Tokyo, a couple low-level thugs came before her. They claimed to have been watching her rob stores for quite some time and tried to convince her to join them by offering protection and a good cut of whatever product they wanted to heist, but she knew there was some kind of catch to it, especially since they would be so eager to ask a kid for help rather than an adult. She could always tell when someone was lying, and she had her dear old Dad to thank for that, so there was no doubt in her mind that these two were only going to use her for their dirty work, give her next to nothing, and leave her to rot the moment the fuzz shows up. When she refused, they didn't take it lightly and beat her to a bloody pulp. At the time, her quirk was completely unmanageable, leaving her unable to fight back. Out of nowhere, he appeared. They had never met before and yet, there he was to save her, the Pro-Hero, Crimson Riot. With his quirk, he stiffened up as if he were a sub-human shield and easily sent the villains running. Shortly after, the police showed up along with medics to treat her, but he chose not to leave her side that night. He had been ordered to patrol the area for days and had found out about her thieving lifestyle upon his surveillance. She assumed he would turn her in, but seeing as how she was just a kid who didn't have much of a choice or nowhere to go, he agreed not to.
Akane didn't exactly favor heroes like everyone else did back then, but she never aspired to be a villain either. The only thing she cared about was surviving. Crimson Riot took her down to the Police Station after her treatment to give them a valid statement on what happened between her and the villains. Sadly, when all was said and done, everyone was at a loss of what to do with the poor girl. Seeing someone so young stick it out for as long as she did, they felt obligated to help her get a normal life. Of course, she figured they just didn't want another rebel kid to end up becoming another villain. While everyone was trying to figure out what to do for her, she waited in the lobby, sucking on a piece of hard fruit candy that the nice receptionist gave her. That's when she met her, Mae Hattori, the most powerful woman in the PSI kneeling down to her eye level with that warm, welcoming smile. She took the time to show her around the station, giving her an in-depth tour of the heroes who help people and the types of dangerous criminals they put behind bars. That night changed her life, and she slowly started to appreciate a hero's duty. Their relationship grew from then on, and soon after, she was adopted as her daughter, even took on the Hattori name. Her new mother gave her everything she could ever want, things like a cozy bed, hot food, clothes, and a love that could match that of her late mother. In return, she strived to repay her kindness by becoming a great Hero, one who just as strong as Crimson Riot or All Might, and one as perceptive and kind as Mae.
Akane slowly made her way down the hallway to go into the girl's bathroom and scuffled herself behind one of the sinks. She dropped her clean towel down on the counter before she turned on the hot water faucet. There was small chatter among a couple of other girls who were already there, but she was too tired to pay them any mind. She braced herself as she looked into the mirror. Dear God, look at those bloodshot, black-ringed eyes! Her skin was much paler than before, almost sickly. There was no way that she could ignore this any longer, and this was bound to get noticed by Emiri and Yuto. Cupping her hands full of steamy hot water, she splashed her face three times to see if it made a difference. To no surprise, it didn't change. This was going to be frustrating. Perhaps, now was the time to talk to someone about this.
After drying her face, she finished her morning routine and left to go change into her uniform. The three days were finally up and the staff decided to allow the students to go back to class. The energy of the entire dorm was overjoyed when they heard the news. The police had investigated all that they could from the remains of her old dorm as well as the security footage, but they were still unable to get a solid lead on the enemy's location, so they were still adamant about the students freely roaming around campus. For the time being, all classes still needed to be escorted across school grounds by one of the staff members. Anyone who tried would have to face the wrath of Hound Dog. On a brighter side, all that was left to do was to finish paperwork and update security measures, and then the construction for the new dorm would begin. Despite everything, her desire to become a hero for Mae outweighed the fear lurking behind that message, and she was more than ready to go back to class. If anything, her studies would at least provide a distraction. After she was fully dressed, she tossed her new backpack over her shoulder and went downstairs to join the others in the lobby waiting for Mr. Aizawa.
"Woah, Akane, you look terrible." Said Emiri, leaning in to get a closer look at her face. Feeling a bit self-conscious, she ran her hand through her hair and stared at the floor.
"We're not supposed to make her feel worse!" Yuto quietly snapped at her. She gave him a slight pout. Honestly, at this point, they should get used to her speaking her mind, even if it is the brutal truth. She still didn't need the reminder, she knew she looked bad. "Maybe you should talk to Midnight about what happened, or your mom."
After seeing that note, maybe she should, but she really didn't want to make her mom worry. For now, she just wanted to get this day started. Aizawa eventually showed up to walk the students to their classrooms. His students went to their room first before he took the three of them to Midnight's. The visual emptiness of the classroom when they arrived made it all the more apparent that the others were gone. Was this how they were going to spend the rest of the semester? Has the world really lost their faith that they've resorted to taking out future heroes? Looks like fear holds as much power over a person than a quirk. As much as they wanted to be happy being back, it was still quite depressing.
Midnight entered the room after everyone took their seats. "Good morning. Though I'm disheartened that my number of students is greatly reduced, I am still grateful to have you here. As we well know, the rising amount of villain attacks has begun to terrorize the public, which has led them to doubt the capabilities of our most trusted heroes. In this dark time, we need heroes now more than ever. As U.A. students, your dedication to continuing this path despite all that occurred will not go unnoticed, which brings me to my new announcement… Class C, D, E, and F will be starring in our upcoming Sports Festival."
The sound of several gasps overpowered the silence in the room, some with excitement and some out of concern. Was this really the right time to be doing this?
Yuto raised his hand. "But Sensei, what about classes A and B?"
"I'm glad you brought that up. Classes A and B will not be participating."
"What?!" yelled one classmate.
"Why do they get immunity?! That's not fair!" shouted another.
Midnight cracked her whip to shut them up. "The reason for this is because classes C, D, E, and F are the only ones where students have been pulled off campus. As previously mentioned, the public needs more enforcement. Since we have failed to change the minds of several parents, we have lost a significant amount of graduates this year. U.A. strongly insists that we admit other applicants and allow the students kicked down to the Support and Business Departments a chance to reach for a spot in the Hero course. In the next three months, you will be training with the students from both class A and B. I suggest you utilize the time wisely. Today, we will be heading down to the Gamma Gymnasium to run you through some obstacles similar to that in the tournament. There, you will be put to the test while both classes watch and evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. When it's over, you will be placed in a group of students with the skills best suited to help you train. Though you're all currently in the hero course, the same rules still apply from the tournament, meaning that if you don't cut it in the first round, your spot in the hero course could go to someone else."
Man, that didn't seem right. If the world was so desperate for fighters, wouldn't they just allow them to keep their positions? Maybe that couldn't apply to those in the lower classes. They were only class C, practically neck and neck with class B. This didn't seem fair to most of them, but Akane took it as a sign to finally step up her game. If it wasn't for her own flaw of being touched, she would have been the one helping these guys train their quirks. That was the biggest fault she needed help with, but how could those students possibly help her with that? If anything, her condition was psychosomatic, something that she would have to figure out for herself, not something she needed to do reps for like at the gym.
"But Sensei, doesn't the Sports Festival take place at the end of the year, before Summer Break?" Yuto asked with his hand in the air.
"Normally, yes, but the staff has agreed to speed up the training courses to make up for those unable to get their Hero License this year. By the end of this semester, every single one of those empty seats will be filled and we can begin preparing you for the Licensing Exam." She explained.
"So then, why would we need the tournament? Can't class A and B examine the other applicants to take on the Hero course instead of us?" asked another.
"The tournament provides the public with a televised presentation of our student's progress. You represent our school just like any other student with how you handle dangerous situations as a hero. Right now, the public needs that reassurance, that we are strong, we are capable, and we are determined to make the world a better and safer place to live. This event also allows other Pro-Heroes to evaluate your talents for a possible understudy. The more sponsors you get, the more experience you will have to better help you at the exam. It can also help you figure out whether you wish to continue a path towards becoming a Pro-Hero or a Sidekick. The reason that this class has to participate and not A or B is because both your skills and quirks need help. The event requires at least one class from the Hero Department to represent our school's moral fiber, and you are the selected group. You should feel honored for this opportunity to show the world what you can do… Are there any other questions?"
She took a moment to scan the room for a response, but when she got only silence, she continued on.
"I want all of you to suit up and meet me near the entrance in front of the school. Remember to bring your A game!"
"Yes, Ma'am!" They all responded before dismissing themselves from the classroom to go change in their gear.
In the locker room, Akane opened her metal suitcase given from the Support Department and pulled out her newly re-made costume, an incredibly elastic, tight, black leather spandex vest and pants with matching black boots. She made it very clear in her description that it had to be as stretchy as possible, including the boots, to make up for her quirk, and so far, it had done a decent job. The only issue she really had with it was durability. She lost count of how many times an outfit got torn or ruined because of her quirk, so she sure as shit wasn't going to let it get in the way of her hero work. When she was comfortably snug inside the new material, she closed the locker that held her suitcase and re-joined the others making their way near the front. From there, Midnight led the way past the right wing building of the Support Department to the massive Gamma Gym. It had been a while since they all came here together. The last time, they were studying ways to overcome and endure natural disasters with Thirteen. Now, the class was cut in half, which left the students wondering how this was going to play out.
"Let's begin!" Ordered Midnight, capturing everyone's attention.
From the stands, both classes sat separately looking down on them. Since the Gym was so spaced out, there were several large TV's with hidden cameras scattered across the arena to better aide their observations. As instructed by their teachers, each student was given a dossier with detailed information on each individual person in Midnight's class. Their objective was set to observe them as much as possible and jot down any faults that needed to be fixed in training. They were also told to list any helpful tips that could help them strategize in the long run. Once all the data was collected, the staff would then be able to filter out the groups best suited for one another.
"The first task is the maze runner!" Midnight and her students adjourned near the forest area of the gym where a large wall stood erect with several small entry ways. Cementoss must've made this prior to their arrival. "In this challenge, each of you will race to reach the single exit of the maze, but beware of the hidden traps and interchangeable walls. A hero must be able to maneuver around any obstacle in their path, so feel free to use your quirk to your own advantage. Inside, there will be many bystanders in your way and several people in distress and in need of rescuing. Your ability to overtake the obstacles and serve the public will be judged in a point system similar to that of the Entrance Exam. Each feat you overcome is worth five points, and each pedestrian you save will be worth ten points. The more challenges you get through, the more points you'll earn. However, the number of people you ignore or damage along the way will deduct your points. The first person to reach the end of the maze will receive an extra thirty points… Each student must line up behind a designated entrance. Do not enter until I give the command!"
As instructed, Akane stepped behind the small narrow opening and took in a deep breath. For the first time in a while, the excitement rushed the adrenaline in her veins to the point where she completely ignored the bad thoughts that had been storming her mind. She really needed this; she was so ready to get back in the game and show her best. It was time to get those points!
"Get ready!... Go!"
Akane immediately constricted the muscles in her legs as she crouched down and burst forth into the maze. By using only a partial amount of her quirk, she could save her energy for the danger ahead and focus on getting there faster. There was no telling how the points would rack up at the end of the race, but regardless, having those extra points would be a great advantage. The last tournament she saw, the winner of the first round received a significant amount of points that made an impact on the second round after. Who knows if this would do the same? Even though this was just for practice, the real test was about reaction and adaptation. She passed a couple classmates just before turning around a corner that led to a dead end. Immediately, she went to turn around when a tall figure jumped out of nowhere in front of her. It was a dark, shady cutout of a man with a large bomb strapped to his torso. The expression painted on his face indicated that he was a "villain". The bomb timer started ticking backwards from ten seconds, she had to react fast! She quickly removed the trigger from the villains hand and pressed the lit button below the belt to disarm it. The timer paused right at two seconds and the blinking red light turned green, to which sent the cutout sinking back to the crevice in the wall from which it came.
Just when she was about to continue on, the path she came from had begun to enclose with the interchangeable wall, ready to completely trap her in. How annoying, but there was no way she was going to let this stop her now. With careful concentration, she allowed her quirk to consume her body by bulking up her muscles to the point where they were almost completely visible. The red color in her hair receded through the roots, moving out across her pale skin, transforming her into the deadly, strong, red heroine she was meant to be. She crouched down once again to gain momentum and jumped fist-first, pile-driving herself through the blockage. The barrier crumbled to bits as she tumbled her landing. As soon as she collected herself, she retracted her quirk back inside. It was best to conserve any energy she had for now, especially since she had a long way to go.
One turn after another, she went until she came to another dead end. Turning back, she took three steps forward until she felt her foot start to sink into the ground. Looking all around her, she noticed that the floor had turned into quicksand. Another cutout suddenly appeared from below the sand, this time taking the form of a small child in distress. She forced her legs to try and step out of the sinkhole to level ground, but it only continued to mush back down in the mud. Her body continued to sink, which meant her time was running short. She quickly averted her eyes to her surroundings, but sadly was unable to find anything to pull her out. If this was a real situation, the only thing that would matter would be saving the kid, and that's exactly what she was going to do. Stretching her arms out, she grabbed the hand of the cutout and yanked it out of the pit. The moment his feet were lifted from the dirt, she noticed a black, retractable cord attached to his back, which definitely meant that the cutout had a deactivation trigger. Was it possible that it was the same for all the cutouts?
The blinking red light on his chest turned green, which caused the cord to retract, sending the little cutout boy back into a slot in the ground. With the rescue task completed, the quicksand began to stiffen up to normal solid terrain, but unfortunately, it completely solidified around her feet before she could step out. Oh well, no matter. Bulking up the muscle fibers in her thighs and calves, she jerked her right leg up, then her left, freeing herself from Cementoss' clutches. A trickle of sweat ran down the side of her face as she huffed a heavy breath of air. She wiped it off with her shoulder and went back in the race. Hopefully, she would find the way out soon before she completely ran out of steam.
Back in the stands, the students of 1-A were on the edge of their seats watching them all go. Ashido and Hagakure stood up from their spots, cheering on Emiri as she used her quirk to defeat one of the robots, similar to those from the Entrance Exam, and save the small cardboard family. From what they could see, Yuto was in the lead, using his jumper quirk to quickly faze through the air from one spot to another. He was able to avoid most of the obstacles that came his way, but everyone could plainly see the amount of people he left behind. That left them wondering that even if he made it to the finish line and gathered up those extra points, would it be enough to make up for those that he lost along the way. Most of the students in Midnight's Homeroom had made great strides getting through so far, but when they reached the center of the maze, the challenges had started to become much more difficult. One by one, the weakest links became completely cut off from the trail, either boxed in by the changing walls or caught in a trap that they couldn't attack or evade from. The ones who withstood all of it were able to pull forth. This was hard, but it was necessary to stay in the Hero course. If they couldn't make it through this, they probably wouldn't make it in the real world.
Midoriya didn't want to take his eyes off the big screen or from the notes that he was endlessly writing. There was so much information to jot down about each person that it was getting really hard to keep up. Some of it he didn't want to turn in to Mr. Aizawa, he wanted to keep for himself in his little strategic notebook. The camera then switched to Hattori, which immediately caught his attention. She had taken a wrong turn that led her to a fortress that was covered with battle droids. The fake bystanders began to pop up, which triggered the robots to attack her and them simultaneously. That had to be the worst place for her to go in the entire maze alone. Just how was she going to be able to keep the robots from destroying the cutouts when they're attacking her? Any damage done to the pedestrians was an automatic point withdrawal.
Surprise overtook him the moment she dove right in. She charged through their blockade with an explosive punch until she was standing right in front of a little girl walking with her grandma. She pushed the button to retract them just before the droid could land a blow. Akane jumped from wall to wall, landing several powerful kicks that completely smashed the bots to bits. One at a time, she maneuvered around them until she reached another pedestrian, this time of a young honeymoon couple. Once again, she pressed the button and they slipped back into the wall. With no other robots to destroy, she relaxed herself by leaning against the cement. Her chest painfully rose up and down with each breath she took. Fuck that was so much work! At least they were all gone.
"Wow, she's really amazing!" Izuku exclaimed. Now that he could plainly see her in action, he understood why the villains would want to recruit her. His excited complexion then melted into concern when he realized that he still hadn't been able to talk to her about the incident.
"Ribbit. Yea, I didn't think she'd be able to take those down all on her own and still save the bystanders." Added Tsuyu in her naturally nasal voice. That was definitely a plus- ultra motive that needed to be noted in the evaluation.
Bakugo felt annoyed after hearing those comments. Of course that idiot would say she's amazing, he thinks anyone who can land a punch is amazing. If he were running in the race, he would have aced those fuckers in half the time. She wasn't anything special, and from the looks of it, was pretty weak if she was getting worn out now. He kept on watching her as she got herself together and moved past the heaps of broken metal to the corner that pathed directly to the exit. Out of nowhere, she jumped at the sound of another cutout bursting from the ground behind her. She must have assumed that it was another battle droid that she forgot to finish off because she didn't bother to look before she obliterated it. His eyes narrowed confusedly seeing her entire body transform into a tall, red, muscular amazon. That was nothing like what he saw back in the dorm. Was this the full picture? When she finally realized that she had destroyed an innocent pedestrian cutout, she covered her open mouth and averted back to her normal human form. That was a point deduction. What was most odd was figuring out that she only attacks full force when someone's behind her. The decoy could've grazed her as it popped out of the ground, which could've triggered the reaction. If that were a real scenario, he probably would've thought it was an enemy too, but he would have been smart enough to look before setting off an explosion. That was something she needed to work on.
The televised event had abruptly come to an end at the sound of the buzzer. Someone made it to the finish line. Cementoss approached the outer wall and melted the dense rock back into liquefied cement, freeing everyone who had been trapped inside. Midnight approached the winner with a smile and grabbed his hand.
"The winner of the race is Yuto Hatsumodo!" A few people in the stand cheered at his success as well as his own friends down below. "We will take a short break to tally up the points."
Everyone departed from the arena through one of the exits that led up to the stands. The class relaxed themselves in the seats next to 1-A. Some of the students from the other classes tried to take a break from evaluating to socialize, but Mr. Aizawa didn't allow it. It was probably best not to see the results until the very end anyways. Yuto plopped himself down next to Akane with a satisfied grin on his face. She showed her support by giving him a lucky thumbs up. Even though it was a competition, he was still happy that she cared for his success. He could only hope that the point system they administered would keep him in the first place position. After a while, the results came in on the large televisions.
"Aww what?! Fourth place!" Yuto exclaimed, standing up from his spot to get a better look at the screen. Sadly, his eyes weren't lying to him. They categorized the number of battles won, how many pedestrians were saved, and the amount of casualties' altogether. Even with the extra thirty points, he left six people total behind, bumping his score down significantly. Their other classmate Eita Yashi took the third place title, and Emiri with second. When it came to first place, all eyes turned to her.
"Though Yuto Hatsumodo finished the race first, the winner of the maze runner with the total amount of one hundred and ten points is Akane Hattori!" Midnight proudly projected over the intercom.
"Woah! Really?!" yelled one of her friends.
"Congratulations, Akane." Said Yuto, turning a half-happy smile to her. That must've really stung to know that he wasn't really first place. Even she was blown away by the results. The board confirmed that she only had one casualty and that was when she accidentally destroyed that cutout of the young adult man. Normally, she would be glad to have this kind of outcome, but knowing that it could very well have been another real person left her feeling uneasy. That thing was so cut up that it might as well be mulch by now. She could only imagine how gruesome it would've been.
"Due to the low amount of students in the class, we will be skipping the team building obstacle and jumping right into the one on one face-offs. The team building evaluations will be set by the staff members when you're placed in your set groups. The top six students will go head to head until we have deemed a champion. Those who did not make the top six shall remain in the stands to watch." Explained Midnight. Cementoss quickly laid out a nice flat surface in the middle of the open desert part of the arena. "Let's get this started. The first match is Emiri Yamada versus Kento Arima!"